Articles
Seeking Peace - Romans - 14:19
Seeking Peace - Romans - 14:19
It’s my way or the highway! It’s my RIGHT! Such sentiment seems to me to be the norm in our country, even creeping into the church. Brethren, such should not BE.
Paul writes: “So then we pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another” (Romans 14:19). While this chapter on judgments and divisions has spawned some contention among those who try to understand it, yet underlying the application lays this great foundation: God has called us to peace.
Jesus taught: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (Matthew 5:9). Peter, quoting from Psalm 34 and applying the principle to the disciples, said: “For, "The one who desires life, to love and see good days, Must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit. He must turn away from evil and do good; He must seek peace and pursue it” (1 Peter 3:10-11). He also wrote: “Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless” (2 Peter 3:14). Add to this the Hebrew writers instruction: “Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14). Paul further instructed us to be “diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:3).
Peace does not exist where people are insistent on getting their own way, of ensuring THEIR rights are not honored, rather it comes when we “walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called.” Such a worthy manner of life is marked by “humility, gentleness, patience, and showing tolerance for one another in love” (Eph. 4:1-2).
Such does not come easy (or natural). It is to be diligently pursued. It comes from seeking each other’s best interests and not our own. It comes from “seeking to please our neighbor for HIS good, to HIS edification” (cp. Rom. 15:2).
So, let’s start with the thermostat at church and work up from there in learning to pursue things which make for peace! How comfortable are you with being uncomfortable for your brother’s sake?
Hugh DeLong
